September 19, 2016 at 9:53 am

Ohio University Mock Trial Selects 20 Team Members

Twenty students have been selected to join the Ohio University Mock Trial Team for the 2016-17 school year.

Tryouts for Mock Trial occurred on Sept. 6 and 7. In order to try out, interested students were required to prepare and deliver a speech on a pre-selected topic. Additionally, students were required to respond to an extemporaneous topic upon completion of their speech.

The Ohio University Mock Trial Team is a second-year student organization at Ohio University, affiliated with the Center for Law, Justice & Culture. Ohio University competes in the American Mock Trial Association tournaments, along with over 600 teams from over 350 colleges and universities.

Mock Trial is designed to assist those interested in law and the legal system to be able to further their education outside of the classroom with hands on-experience. The team hopes to uphold its competitive edge; it advanced one team last year to compete in the Opening Round Championship Series in Lancaster, PA.

Through competition, practice, meetings, and lectures, members grow to better prepare them for their professional careers. They also gain valuable networking capabilities, as the team often hosts lawyers and judges to give perspective on different aspects of the organization.

Members of Mock Trial are responsible for preparing for mock cases, similar to how lawyers, witnesses, and other legal professionals would. Both teams were invited to compete at the upcoming Scarlet & Gray Invitational, hosted by Ohio State Mock Trial, at the state-of-the-art Franklin County Courthouse on Oct. 15-16. Later in the school year, the teams will head off to the competition against other schools.

Along with the Mock Trial Executive Board, the tryouts were judged by coaches CLJC Specialist Larry Hayman and Ohio University Associate General Counsel Grant Garber.

Students selected to join the organization are: